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Seana McKenna as Phèdre
Photo: David Hou

Tom McCamus as Theseus
Photo: David Hou Seana McKenna as Phèdre and Jonathan Goad as Hippolytus
Photo: David Hou

Review by John Gardiner

I am, by nature, the type of guy who really enjoys a piece of serious theatre......I will travel a long way to see something that is desparately bleak and grim, if only it offers up great emotion and makes me feel something wonderful. I have said before in my reviews that I expect a great piece of theatre to lift me up and take me away......away from the mundane and dreary everyday of life.

I was filled with anticipation at the thought of seeing Seanna McKenna and Tom McCamus on stage together in Jean Racine's 17th century Phedre, a more than serious tale of incestuous love, angry gods and all the other good stuff the Greeks liked to pack into their theatre. But something about this performance just didn't do it for me. It was awfully good and well acted, but just really didn't engage me

I am regularly in awe of McKenna's ability on stage. I have watched her do a wide variety of roles at Stratford and she usually consumes the stage. On this day, and in this particular performance, I didn't feel it happened for her. It was very good – completely adequate – but perhaps that is all......although there was a half-hearted standing ovation at the end, it certainly didn't involve the entire audience....

McCamus was good as the fabled Theseus of Greek legend. He is a wonderful actor and does this role really well. He sweeps about the stage in full regal glory and fills it with an enormously powerful presence. In fact, after his somewhat late entrance, the whole production seemed to move better and establish a better flow. I am a big Tom McCamus fan and this performance did nothing to diminish that.

I found that Jonathan Goad was okay as Hippolytus, son of Theseus, and object of Phedre's desires, but thought he spent much of the play looking kind of pouty.....which didn't seem to work for me. I thought by contrast Sean Arbuckle was good as Theramene, tutor of Hippolytus. He was extremely solid in a supportive role.

I guess I had a bit of a problem with Roberta Maxwell's performnce as Oenone, nurse and confidante of Phedre. I'm afraid she seemed to bring little confidence to the role and almost seemed ready to drop her lines a couple of times....it was offputting and distracting and I think detracted from the power of the show.

So, this one didn't really do it for me.....that's the way a season goes. We've seen some reallly good stuff on stage at Stratford this season and Phedre is a pretty good piece of theatre. It just wasn't quite as good as I expected. I thought it would lift me out of my seat and it failed to do that. But, still, a better way to spend an afternoon than almost any other way I can think of.

Really enjoyed the sparseness of this production....I enjoyed how it was presented – one long act – and the staging. It was Stratford at its best.....So don't really judge Phedre by my reaction. I was thinking that maybe if was just a bit of an off day for some members of the cast – and I could see that happening. I enjoyed the play, but feel it should have been so much more.